This invention relates to vehicle suspensions and more particularly to an air suspension featuring a hydraulic shock absorber mounted completely within an airspring on a pivotal mount which allows relative motion between the shock and the airspring.
Air suspension systems in vehicles are well known and generally feature the attributes that vehicle height can be maintained regardless of vehicle load. Some air suspension systems utilize hydraulic shock absorbers as the main structural member with the airspring piston rigidly or rotationally mounted around the shock. While such configurations are generally suitable they require that the shock carry the entire spring load in addition to providing the damping action. This invention allows the airspring to transfer spring loads into the suspension separate from the shock absorber. This invention also features an air suspension in which the shock absorber can freely articulate relative to the movement of the airspring piston. An advantage of the configuration is that the shock and airspring have virtually coincident axes. The air suspension of this invention may preferably include a composite airspring piston in which the pivotal mounting means for attaching the shock body to the piston is affixed to a removable inner portion of the airspring piston. This feature yields the advantage that the hydraulic shock absorber portion may be easily and conveniently changed when the hydraulic shock loses its effectiveness during operation.